Rotterdams fruit throughput up

Phase I of Terminal XXI offers 320 metres of berth with 16-metre draught, two post-Panamax quay cranes and three RTGs providing it with an annual handling capacity of 250,000TEUs.

Halfway through the fruit season throughput of fruit and vegetables in Rotterdam is 20% up. At end April, Seabrex, Rotterdam’s largest fruit terminal, recorded handling 500,000 tons in its “Fruitport”. A significant reason behind the increase is the strong Euro. This makes exporting to Europe attractive for producers in the dollar zone, such as South America.About 80% of incoming trade in “Fruitport” arrives on pallets on conventional reefer ships, the balance in reefer containers which is becoming increasingly important. In the first half of the season, incoming trade consists mainly of fruit from Chile and apples and pears from South Africa. The frontier then moves northwards, and the new harvest of citrus fruits starts to arrive principally from Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Morocco, New Zealand and Central America (bananas).